Yellow Island Preserve
Our first morning waking on Jones Island, John prepared a delicious spinach quiche in the Dutch oven. My role was to keep the coffee strong and flowing. As mentioned earlier, with the ruptured hose to our camp stove, we where forced to prepare our meals on an open fire. However, we soon found that beyond requiring a little more prep time it really was business as usual.
John seeking permission for our group to land on the Yellow Island Preserve. Photograph by Steve Weileman
The pending new moon was providing us with negative tides in the morning so we delayed our departure to explore the islands to the south of us until noon. John had been trying to contact the Nature Conservancy caretaker on Yellow Island to receive permission for us to land and investigate the island. They weren’t answering their phone, but we decided to swing by the island, and see if it was possible for our party to land despite the lack of a reservation.
Great Camas (Camassia leichtlinii) found on the west side of Yellow Island. Photograph by Steve Weileman
Yellow Island lies just to the south of Jones Island and to the west of the Wasp Islands group. Before the arrival of European colonists, the island was used by the indigenous population for harvesting plant foods such as the roots of the Camas flower. Intentional burning was a technique used to keep the tree population in check, helping to maintain the prairies needed for the Camas flowers.
The island which is roughly 11 acres was bought by Lewis and Elizabeth Dodd of Orcas Island in 1947. They build a very charming cabin of local driftwood on the south shore of the island which still stands today. After their deaths the family sold the island to the conservancy in 1979.
A couple of Harbor Seal Pups (Phoca vitulina) waiting for their mothers to return from fishing. Photograph by Steve Weileman
More than 50 species of wildflowers bloom on Yellow Island. Brittle Prickly pear cactus (Opuntia littoralis) – the only cactus species native to western Washington – is also found here. Bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) frequently perch in the island’s tallest trees. Harbor seals haul out on the rocks off the island’s west spit while using the east spit to give birth and nurse their young. Harlequin ducks forage near shore, taking advantage of the prolific life in the intertidal zone. The grasslands on Yellow Island are unique in the Puget Sound lowlands. An absence of historic grazing helped preserve the unusual diversity of native plants. This also prevented them from being overrun by non-native species.
We hung offshore as John approached the beach and hailed the caretaker who was kind enough to grant our group permission to land on the island. As we pulled our kayaks on the beach and unloaded, he quickly briefed us on the guidelines to visiting the island.
The old Dodd driftwood cabin still in use today. Photograph by Steve Weileman
Being careful to stay on the trails which circle the island, we made our way through the variety fields of wild flowers. We paused on Hummingbird Hill to pay our respects to the Dodd’s who are both interned here.
Making our way to the western side of the island we observed a couple of Harbor Seal (Phoca vitulina) pups on the spit. Their mothers had left them alone on shore, which is common, while they went hunting for fish. The pups are born singly and well developed, capable of swimming and diving within hours. Suckling for three to four weeks, pups feed on the mother’s rich, fatty milk and grow rapidly; born weighing up to 16 kilograms, the pups may double their weight by the time of weaning. Not wanting to disturb the pups we snapped a couple of quick photos then quietly left the area.
Returning to the cabin we thanked our hosts, and listened to their work on the island was well as some of the history of the local area. Yellow Island is certainly a must stop when in the San Juan Islands.
